About

“Deborah Mersino brings to every project an extraordinary blend of branding savvy, creative inspiration and strategic direction. She works closely with her clients to define their true value, express it in fresh, new ways and identify promising paths for future growth. Most importantly, she balances an incisive vision with an upbeat outlook that makes her clients both confident in her counsel and glad for her guidance.”

– Pat Vaccaro, American Planning Association

Deborah Mersino, president of Ingeniosus (pronounced “in-genie-oh-sus”), is a dynamic strategist who has 17 years of experience driving businesses and nonprofits forward. Most recently, she directed marketing for a leading organization dedicated to influencing public policy regarding the use of technology to improve education. With a background in management, business development, and marketing communications, she excels at applying an entrepreneurial approach to supporting nonprofits, businesses, and schools. She is known best for her sound thinking, fresh ideation, and bold solutions that inspire target audiences to action.

Her professional strengths include:

Leadership

Organizational Development

Strategic Planning

Branding

Program/Project Management

Product Launches

Public Relations

External Outreach and Advocacy

Market Research & Analysis

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Agile Marketing

Traditional and Digital Media

Conference Evaluations

Keynote Speaking and Presentations

THE ROAD TO INGENIOSUS

Ms. Mersino graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She started her career working as a feature writer and copy editor at two newspapers and then a magazine before delving into the world of PR at a boutique public relations firm and then a medium-size firm in Chicago. In her late 20s, she launched her own firm, Paragon Public Relations, which gained media notice from Inc., Fast Company, and Industry Week, as well as the Chicago Tribune and Indianapolis Star. Ms. Mersino’s prowess was also featured in two books: 301 Ideas for Selling Smarter and Free Agent Nation – How America’s New Independent Workers are Transforming the Way We Live by Dan Pink.

After taking a brief foray to welcome her two daughters into the world, Ms. Mersino was invited to help run a national marketing firm in the Chicago Loop specializing in nonprofits and real estate. It was here she became a specialist in branding and business development and honed her speaking skills. As her daughters grew, her interest in education began peaking. In 2009, she founded Ingeniosus to serve organizations and schools focused on gifted education. Ms. Mersino is known in gifted communities as the founder and original moderator of #gtchat, a worldwide education chat on Twitter, and author of the Ingeniosus blog, which drew more than two million visits from 67 countries within its first two years. She has written extensively on issues relating to education and published features in Understanding Our Gifted and Parenting for High Potential. She’s served on keynote panels and presented to national and state associations and groups on the subjects of marketing, social media, and advocating for education.

In 2012, Ms. Mersino came to Oregon to oversee marketing for an association focused on technology in education. She went on to become the chief marketing officer leading a division which included marketing, communications, publishing, and periodicals and served the organization through a major re-branding. Ms. Mersino cut marketing budgets by 35 percent, registered a record 135 media for the organization’s annual conference, and helped establish the conference hashtag as a top trending hashtag on Twitter. She oversaw a new digital content platform for show news and garnered more than 36 million positive media impressions, not including social media, for the organization, in just six months. She also fell in love again with the passion of educators.

Ms. Mersino is now culling and bringing to bear all of the knowledge and experiences she’s had the good fortune to gain and re-launching Ingeniosus with a broader focus on education. She will be offering consulting packages in the areas of branding, marketing communications, blogging, and conference and event programming. Ms. Mersino strongly believes that educational organizations can have greater influence and outcomes and looks forward to serving leaders to ultimately impact learners and benefit our collective futures.